The Woodlands Edition | March 2026

Government

BY ANGELA BONILLA

Oak Ridge North Secretary Elizabeth Harrell swears in Marcus Teske at the Feb. 9 meeting.

COURTESY OAK RIDGE NORTH

ANGELA BONILLA COMMUNITY IMPACT

Oak Ridge North police chief shares vision for future of department Marcus Teske became the new Oak Ridge North police chief at the city council’s Jan. 26 meeting and was sworn in Feb. 9. Teske brings over 20 years of experience and familiarity with the Oak Ridge North community. In a Q&A with Community Impact , Teske discussed his vision to improve the department amid ongoing growth, including providing better law enforcement visibility.

Handling calls for service [with] stang is always an issue. Did salary increases instituted last year help to attract ocers? Yes, I think the salary increase has helped us. We’ve had a number of new applicants coming in right now. ... You know, salaries are always going to be an issue in policing because everybody’s hiring right now. Everybody’s trying to get the best talent that they can.

Can you share a little about your career journey? My career in policing started back in 2002 with the Huntsville Police Department. I was there for about two and a half years and then left there and came to Oak Ridge North ... and worked my way up. I was a patrol ocer, a eld training ocer, sergeant [and] lieutenant. What are your top priorities as the new police chief? One of them is rebranding the agency and getting us back out there. Building our relationships and continuing our relationships with our neighboring agencies and the surrounding agencies, and getting

our guys back out in the community. What are the biggest challenges ?

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com .

[The] biggest challenge we have right now is growth with the new plaza district coming in.

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